“This year’s honorees exemplify the power of collaboration and will to create movements that champion children who are poor, neglected or abused,” says David Chard, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Simmons School. “These children, like any other, deserve a healthy childhood and a good education; the recipients of the Luminary Award shine an important light on what we need to advance.”

• For 35 years, the East Dallas Community Schools (EDCS) have documented the power of high-quality early childhood education, particularly education that starts young and involves the parents. Based on the Montessori education model, staff at the three EDCS campuses provide parents of 550 students with information, encouragement and support. The schools are located in high-risk Dallas areas and open to children ages nine or younger, regardless of income. School founder and director Terry Nelson Ford, a 1974 SMU graduate, will accept the Luminary Award for local excellence.

• The Texas Association for the Protection of Children (TexProtects) was created in 2004 to advocate for reform and better funding of Child Protective Services in Dallas and across the state. The research and advocacy organization is dedicated to representing the needs of Texas children who have been the victims of abuse and neglect by educating decision-makers and the public about child abuse. Founder and director Madeline McClure will accept the Luminary Award for regional achievement.

• The Children’s Defense Fund and Stand for Children work with state, local and national child advocates to improve the lives of children. Marian Wright Edelman created the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 after observing poverty’s devastating effects on children while working with Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign in the 1960s. The organization advocates for better health care, child care and nutrition, equal educational opportunities and leadership training for children, particularly disadvantaged children. Jonah Edelman will accept the national Luminary Award for the Children’s Defense Fund and Stand for Children.

The Luminary Award was created in 2009 by the Simmons School to honor individuals and organizations that have shown an extraordinary commitment to improving people’s lives through education. The award is given annually to a local, regional and national recipient.